The company purchased the prospect in AC/P23 from Mogal Marine for A$10 million cash and A$2 million of shares. But Nexus said independent resource estimates valued the field between A$280 million and A$640 million following development.

Nexus managing director Ian Tchacos said the field would be developed as a gas-liquids recycling project using a floating production, storage and offload (FPSO) vessel, allowing quick commercialisation.

"Nexus is now poised to progress the Longtom gas project and Crux gas liquids project from appraisal to development and to participate in at least four high-impact exploration projects in the year ahead," Tchacos said.

"The development of these assets will provide substantial cashflow and long-life reserves."

By funding the cash component through debt finance, Nexus planned to retain 60% interest in the project, Tchacos said.

The company would offer stakes to farminees who were prepared to funding the appraisal program and feasibility engineering.

The Crux field potentially holds about 48 million barrels of recoverable condensate liquids and could be quickly developed as a gas-liquids recycle project, according to Nexus.

The field also contains 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas, which the company said it intended to produce either concurrently or at a later date.

Production of 16,000 barrels of condensate liquids per day was expected for more than six years, said Nexus.

“This world class asset is ideally located for the export of liquid products to the hydrocarbon hungry South East Asian markets,” said managing director Ian Tchacos in an ASX report.

“It is anticipated that production from Crux will offer Nexus a second income stream alongside Longtom, which will undergo appraisal in early 2006 with a view to moving rapidly towards development.”

He said Nexus would immediately start the appraisal and feasibility engineering studies, with a view to start production in the near future.

The development proposal uses a gas-recycling scheme to produce and strip 600 million cf/d of gas of its condensate, yielding average liquid rates of 16,000 barrels per day. The condensate would then be stored on a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility, transferred to trading crude oil tankers and sold to Asian refineries.

Nexus said 48 million barrels of condensate would be recovered by reinjecting the dry gas back into the reservoir.